What you need to know about Diablo 4 patch 2.3.0 and Season 9, now live!

Diablo 4 patch 2.3.0 just lanched alongside the game’s newest season, and it’s packed with some great content for both seasonal and non-seasonal players. But keeping up with the game and the regular two-hour dev livestreams can be a hassle, so we’ve rounded up the essentials you need to know to jump into Season 9 (or hang out on the eternal realms). Here’s what’s new in the latest Diablo 4 update.

Season 9: Sins of the Horadrim. This season follows a similar pattern to recent seasons, with new abilities to earn and upgrade through the season. The big feature is Horadric Spellcrafting, customizable abilities that you can fine-tune to your build — here’s a rundown of how Spellcrafting works, but check the Blizzard’s official Season 9 article for a list of all available spells. There are also Horadric Jewels to craft and collect for new power ups.

A new seasonal story picks up a loose thread from the game’s original narrative, but if it’s like other seasons, it’s probably just set dressing around seasonal mechanics. Still, it does have a great trailer with Donan’s voice actor. Plus Asteroth is back.

Nightmare Dungeon improvements. All players will see an overhaul to Nightmare Dungeons, which were feeling underwhelming after Glyph XP moved to The Pit. Nightmare Dungeon Affixes have been overhauled to be less punishing to specific builds (for example, you won’t see affixes that reduce shadow damage taken by mobs, which heavily punishes specific build types), plus there are new positive affixes to go with the negative affixes. Horadric Strongrooms will also spawn in Nightmare Dungeons, essentially offering a micro-dungeon within the dungeon for extra rewards. Here are more details on Nightmare Dungeon improvements and how to get through these new systems.

Escalating Nightmares is a series of three Nightmare Dungeons, with each one adding an additional affix and additional difficulty. You’ll enter these dungeons with a new Sigil, the Escalating Sigil, which will activate the Escalating Nightmare just like a standard Sigil activates a normal Nightmare Dungeon. If you complete the three dungeons in Torment difficulty, you’ll face Astaroth in a brand new encounter. These changes will be available in both seasonal and eternal realms, and will remain after Season 9 ends.

New Reliquaries and new rewards. While I’m not sure anyone is exactly thrilled with the new Reliquary/Battle Pass system, there’s a new set of rewards available. The highlight for me is the absolutely adorable baby goats (one only available with the Deluxe Battle Pass), though I didn’t manage to unlock all of the rewards last season and I may not make the attempt this season. Completing Chapter VI of the Season’s Journey will also reward you with Dante, a terrifying emaciated dog that suits the setting, but I simply can’t stand to look at. Really, I just want to make sure he’s getting enough to eat, but it’s highly unlikely this will come up in game.

New Unique items to earn. As always, a new season means new loot, which is available on both seasonal and eternal realms. Check out the full list for specifics, but I’m looking forward to trying out my favored minion Necromancer with the new Hand of Naz unique (perhaps paired with Bloodless Scream).

Seriously. Just look at this baby goat. 

Those are the basics, but if you want complete details on every change that arrived with patch 2.3.0, check out the full patch notes.